cm0002Nov 24

Linux comes for Windows at 40 — and gaming can't save it

https://no.lastname.nz/post/1932128

Linux comes for Windows at 40 — and gaming can't save it - No Last Name Needed

>To not much official fanfare on Thursday, the Windows operating system turned 40 years old, marking four decades since Windows 1.0 debuted in the United States on November 20, 1985. Its midlife milestone comes with a crisis, though. Diehard Windows users are switching to Linux for a variety of reasons. > >For one, gaming is finally better on Linux machines, which makes the moat Windows dug for itself a little more passable. Add to that the end of support for Windows 10 in October, the growing frustration among power users about Microsoft Recall, and the growing number of polarizing features, and power users are finding plenty of reasons to make the switch to Linux. > >It’s unclear if the wave of Windows power users loudly moving to Linux has crested yet, or if this is just the beginning. That said, the past year has seen a flood of articles like this one, scores of posts on Reddit, and YouTube videos documenting and occasionally evangelizing the conversion to Linux.

Show threadmagic_lobster_partyNov 24
Nah. The growth of Linux will barely make a dent on Windows user base. Windows is still huge in enterprise settings.
Show threadpoinckNov 24

I wonder what must happen to roll out more Linux in the public sector. There is still software required by scientist of various professiona that need a tool only available for Windows. Installing a VM is not an option; too complicated for the average user.

And there is Windows software not compatible with Windows 11. Here is a small chance to use wine, but will the setup be practical and installable by the users themselves? I doubt it and it will put more work on the admins.

I hope at least, that Linux maintenance will be smoother despite the need for compatibility for older Windows software in the future.

Show threaddjdarren

I would suggest that the vast, vast majority of companies that use Windows do so for two reasons

1: Because the software is (mostly) interchangeable with what their customers use. Office docs can be opened in any Office application without any formatting errors. Generally speaking. Open an .odt in Word and it could (will probably) end up buggering up the formatting.

2: Because most business owners don’t want to go to the expense of hiring a dedicated IT guy to manage a bunch of computers that their staff don’t know how to operate.

Nov 24 at 10:06amWeb
Show threadostesteur87Nov 24
@djdarren But, it's not true for all webs apps, you can have a light desktop(debian+xfce) as a terminal computer, and use apps on clous by web browser.
Show threaddjdarrenNov 24

And that’s fair enough, but if your company doesn’t have an IT department to roll that kind of thing out, then it won’t happen.

Meanwhile, for the average business with 30-50 computers, Windows just chugs along, largely without causing any hardship. And if it does, users sometimes know it well enough to sort it themselves or ask someone who’s “good with computers”.

Show threadRooster326Nov 24

Because most business owners don’t want to go to the expense of hiring a dedicated IT guy to manage a bunch of computers that their staff don’t know how to operate.

Most businesses already have a “dedicated IT guy to manage a bunch of computers that their staff don’t know how to operate.” And the computers are Windows!

People have been using windows for 40 years and most still are not good at it.

That will never change.

Show threaddjdarrenNov 24

Do they really though?

The company I work for has 150 employees. Granted, most of those are across various departments in the worlshop, so don’t use computers as part of their core work, but we have around 50 PCs around the site.

We don’t have a dedicated IT person. We should, but we don’t (currently), because our boss is the kind of old skool employer who doesn’t really understand why we need that many computers when they didn’t have them back in the ‘70S. I would suggest that there are far more mid sized businesses like that where the boomer owner holds a similar view than you might think. Or I’m wrong and just looking at it through my particular lens. But having worked for a bunch of mid sized engineering firms over the years, little about my current employer strikes me as particularly different from the others.

Show threadpoinckNov 24
Regarding 2: That is actually part of my job. 95% Windows, the rest is MacOS and maybe 3 to 5 Linux users (myself excluded).
Show threadPossibly linuxNov 26

Don’t send people docx files

Send PDFs as they tend to be more secure since they can be opened in a web browser.